You know what I am still, STILL not over the fact that FP became sheriff. Like he’s a felon he went to PRISON!! He was the leader of a gang he cleaned up the murder of a child!!! And he became the SHERIFF!!!! And the former sheriff was totally cool helping him out!!! And said former sheriff who arrested FP the first time (a sheriff that FP called out about jacked up charges) said he was the best sheriff the town had ever seen?????? These stupid inconsistencies made my blood boil then and still to this day, TO THIS DAY get me so so so mad!!!!!!!!
Why Didn’t You Tell Me? - Tom Keller / Platonic!Jughead
Requested by: @bad-for-omnitraxus-prime
Hey, could you possibly do a fanfic for Tom Keller? Maybe the reader is Jughead's sister and a couple years older than Kevin and the gang but they find out about Tom and the reader being together? I loved your Tom Keller fanfic. Thank you.
I left the age and how long the two had been together up to the readers, not specifically mentioning numbers or dates. Other than that, I followed it as best as I could. I threw in just the tiniest bit of conflict in there so I hope you don’t mind. Also, sorry about the wait!
(Should I continue watching btw? I stopped after the first episode of season 5 because I was bored waiting for a new episode every week lmao)
Warnings: The tiniest bit of language. Smidge of angst. Fluff. Age gap! (I think that’s it lmao)
Words: 2,756
Pairings: Tom Keller x Jones!Reader / Jughead Jones x sister!Reader (platonic) (female reader)
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“Well, hi there, Sheriff,” you greet in subtle flirtation.
“Miss Jones,” Tom responds, a glint in his eye. “Another late shift?”
The Diner was quiet, comfortably so. Pops was still in the back whipping up meals for any customer to sit themselves down whilst you were working the floor and residing behind the counter, greeting customers, taking orders, and giving refills.
The only other employee apart from yourself was currently topping up a lone mans’ coffee in the far back corner.
“It appears so.” The forlorn sigh was clearly feigned, easily spotted by the small smile gracing your lips.
The man chuckles as he moves to seat himself at the booth opposite the counter near the door, removing his thick jacket and folding it in his arms to place beside him in the booth. “Slow night?”
You hum as you move to grab a coffee pot and a mug before walking to his booth, setting the mug down on to his table. “Very, But I’m not complaining,” you speak as you pour his drink.
Once filled, you pull your hand away, allowing Tom to reach for the mug, pulling it up to his lips and taking a slow sip. “Thanks, angel,” he speaks behind the rim of his cup as he sends you a small wink that, a handful of months ago would have had your knees literally buckling underneath you, although the pet name and the way it rolled off his tongue in such a deep tone had you wishing he’d repeat it over and over.
“So, what can I get for a hard-working man like yourself, Sheriff?” Your hip popped out to the left ever so slightly.
His smile was dazzling as he told you “The usual”, leaning back into the comfy red leather seat of the booth.
“Coming right up.” You turned on your heel only to feel a large warm hand clasp gently around your wrist, tugging you back softly. Looking behind you, you raise an eyebrow in amusement as Tom pulls you even closer, and eventually down towards him. “Anything else Sheriff?”
“I want to see you when your shift ends, angel.” His lips brushed against yours as he murmured to you. “When are you finished?”
You look into his hazel eyes and with a smile, happily told him, “I finish in an hour. Do you think you could possibly restrain yourself ‘til then?”
“I’ll be sure to try my hardest, angel.” You continued to smile as you pressed your lips to his, something quick but long enough to leave a lingering feeling of you against him.
Pulling away, you spin and make your way to the back to tell Pops of the new meal order, a little skip in your step and an extra sway to your hips, only to entice the Sheriff further.
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Tom’s jacket felt snug around you, even if the thing was certainly too large for your body. It engulfed you with its size and warmth and even if the man wasn’t sitting beside you in the drivers seat, you would still only smell him.
His hand rested comfortably on your leg just above your knee, his thumb running back and forth slowly as he drove, the radio was turned low, but it created the perfect environment to feel relaxed. His presence and the drive calmed you.
It felt all too perfect.
“So,” Tom’s voice came. “Kevin and the others are all staying over at Archies’.”
You looked over to him with a playful and teasing glint in your eye. “Are you inviting me over?”
He deeply chuckled and gave your knee a short but gentle squeeze. “I certainly am.”
“Well, I would love to, Sheriff.” You smiled as your leaned over in your seat, planting a kiss on his cheek.
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Night flew by and morning came quickly and before you knew it, it was midday.
Both you and Tom were somehow still in his bed, covered up by the large cover, entangled in each other’s limbs. Tom wore only his grey sweatpants while you were simply covered by a t-shirt of his, too large to be a perfect fit, just like his jacket.
“I know we both have the day off, but shouldn’t we at least finally get out of bed?” You asked, head still lazily resting on Tom’s chest.
You felt the vibrations in his chest when he grunted at the idea, clearly not wanting to move. “I don’t see why we would ever have to.”
You softly giggled at his reasoning as he placed a gently kiss to your forehead. “C’mon now, Sheriff, wouldn’t want me to die of starvation, would you?”
He sighed. “That would be pretty terrible.”
Placing another kiss to your forehead, he carefully moved you off of on top of him before sitting up, swinging his legs around and standing, stretching his muscles out. He turned to face you, standing tall with his hands on his hips, allowing his bare chest to unashamedly be on display, allowing your eyes to wander as much as they pleased without care.
“C’mon angel, you’re getting up too.”
You smirked mischievously. “Actually, I think I’ve changed my mind. There all the sudden seems to be a great view from right here.”
There was a pause before the covers were thrown from off your body and the morning air hit your bare legs. You threw your head back with laughter as Tom grasped your ankles and pulled you to the edge of the bed before bending, picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder as if you were weightless.
You laughed and squirmed in his hold as he carried you away from the bed and down the stairs towards the kitchen, sitting you atop the counter, the cool surface raising goosebumps along your skin and sending a small shiver down your spine.
You sat and watched as he meandered about the kitchen, getting set to start cooking a breakfast for both of you to enjoy. He turned towards you and placed a kiss on your forehead before pulling away. “Put some coffee on, angel. Just gonna grab a shirt.”
“Okay,” you breathed out in a dreamy haze, a smile on your face with your bottom lip entrapped between your teeth, eyes hooded as you watch him leave.
Sighing out, you hop off the counter and walk your way over to the coffee maker, turning the radio on beside it to let music fill the air after switching on the coffee machine and leaning against the counter, softly nodding your head along to the music.
With the sweet tunes on the radio and the noise of the coffee machine surrounding the kitchen, you failed to hear the front door open and close, the noise of multiple footsteps and the hushed whispers between Archie and Veronica.
“Hey dad-“ Kevin’s voice fell short as he turned the corner and spots you stood there after quite the scare his voice gave you, eyes wide, two coffee mugs in hand clutched to your chest which below, holds your heart that beats erratically from the fright.
The others had stepped behind Kevin, all with a different emotion forming on their features once they realise what they had just walked in on.
Veronica held a look of something akin to proud, even a subtle look hinting that she already had some suspicion. Either way, the smirk was still present.
Betty seemed in complete shock, eyes wide, jaw dropped open. If it were even physically possibly, you were certain her eyes would’ve popped out of her head like you see in the cartoons.
Archie looked confused, as if his mind was withholding information that he should really know at this moment. His brain was working it out, slowly. You could almost hear the gears in his head turning.
Kevin, well, you couldn’t really read Kevin for once. It seemed as if he was in denial yet had already accepted it all in one go.
But Jughead, he was the easiest to read out of them all. Your little brother was angry, beyond belief.
To confirm what most already knew, Archie was still working it out, Tom came into view, pulling a t-shirt over his head, freezing when he notices the group stood there and your frozen frame.
After a moment of silence passes, you finally come to your senses and groan.
“Shit.”
_______________
Jughead had stormed out of the house silently and went God knows where, leaving yourself, Tom and the other four remaining in the house.
“So, this is why you’ve been so happy recently?” Kevin muttered. He glanced between the two of you and it seemed the denial of the situation had faded from him entirely, now leaving just the acceptance, and possible happiness.
“Look, son-“ Tom started but was swiftly cut off by Kevin.
“No, it’s fine. I’m not gonna pretend I’m over the moon about it but I can accept it. You’re both adults and she clearly makes you happy, and I really hope you make her happy.” Kevin turned his attention to you. “Does my dad make you happy?”
Sending him a small smile, you nod without hesitation. “Yeah, he really does.”
Kevin smiled back at you. “Good. You’re a really good friend of mine Y/N/N and you two are a part of the handful of people I really care about and want to be happy.” He moved to hug you which you easily returned, sighing out in relief. The embrace lasted a few second before he pulled away, moving towards his dad to also give him a hug, to which Tom returned the warm embrace, whispering to his son a thank you and patting his back once before the two separated.
Kevin looked between you both again and his smile turned teasing. “If this gets like marriage level serious though, I am totally not calling you mom.”
The tension had eased further as you all shared a small laugh. Well, except Archie, who gasped in shock and gaped at you and Tom, finally working out what exactly he had missed. “Wait, you guys are together?!”
_______________
Everyone left after grabbing what they needed and congratulating the two of you, even if they were all still trying to wrap their heads around it. After the shock wore off, even Archie had said he was happy for his ‘big sister’, which delivered a bittersweet feeling since even though you had always seen Archie as a little brother, it reminded you of the brother who had reacted so badly.
It had dampened your mood considerably, but Tom was there to help cheer you up, giving you words of encouragement and sweet praise.
The two of you continued to make and eat breakfast, even if you had lost a lot of your appetite.
Tom could sense the shift in your mood, but he felt as if he couldn’t really do much in this situation, the only thing that could really help is if you were to seek out your brother and work things through.
Archie had told you to just give Jughead a little space and time before going after him, even if you had already known that. But it still felt difficult to not allow thoughts of your brother hating you for the rest of his life consume you.
But you tried. You tried and allowed yourself to be somewhat happy for the rest of the day spent with Tom, actually smiling every now and then, enjoying his company, his touches, his words, his kisses, his smile.
By 10, you knew you should go after him finally. He had enough hours of acting out childishly. He may be stern and stubborn, but those traits were strongest with you. Must be a firstborn thing, you always joked with him and your father.
Exchanging sweet ‘goodbye’s and ‘see you later’s with Tom, you left the Keller residence and walked the distance over to the Andrews residence, Archie having told you he had turned up at his house an hour or so ago.
Tom wasn’t ecstatic about letting you walk alone at such a late time at night, but you argued that you really could use the time it took you to walk to calm yourself down and think through what you had wanted to say.
And you did. The entire length of the walk, you had mulled over and planned and practiced what you could possibly say to your baby brother that would make him hate you just that little less.
Even when you knocked on their door and Fred had answered with a somewhat understanding smile, not that he actually knew the full extent of the situation, you worked on your grand speech. Even when you slowly made your way up their stairs and passed Archie on the way, him giving you a comforting squeeze on the shoulder and a reassuring smile. Even when you opened Archies’ bedroom door and found Jughead sitting there quietly.
Everything you worked out in your head dissipated when he looked up and met your eyes for a brief second. Gone.
You stared at your brother from the doorway whilst he went back to looking at the wall opposite the bed, his hands clasped in front of him, arms rested on his knees.
“Hey Jug.” He barely spared you a glance but still, he uttered a small “Hey,” back.
You took caution when moving towards the bed, sitting down beside him slowly, all whilst keeping your eye on him.
“It’s nice to see you have clothes on,” he weakly spat. As much as he wanted to be, he always found it difficult to be angry with you. Just the same as when you found difficulty in being angry with him.
You sighed. “Jug-“
“Why?” He started. “Why did you choose our friends dad?”
“I don’t know. I’m just- I’m so happy, Jug,” you answered quietly.
“He’s our friend’s dad. He’s old enough to be your dad,” Jughead spoke whilst standing, beginning to pace the room, his voice slowly raising in volume. “He’s the same age as our dad. They went to high school together!”
You were beginning to feel fed up of how he was acting, wanting to explain but believing his behaviour was more childish than it should be. “God, Jug, why can’t you just be happy for me?”
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!”
You sat wide eyed at your brother, his shout surprising you, his words even more so. “What?”
He sighed and slumped down against the wall opposite where you sat on the bed, his head falling into his hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked quieter.
You sighed too, realising what his overreaction and outburst had really been about. You moved beside him, sliding down the wall, and wrapping your arm around his shoulders. “I don’t know. I was scared,” you started, his head lifting to look at you. “I was scared you’d react badly. Kinda like earlier,” you gave him a look and he had the decency to feel somewhat sheepish.
“You always tell me everything, just like I tell you. I just, I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I didn’t feel right that I found out like the others did.”
“I know.” You hugged him tighter. “I’m sorry, okay?”
“I’m sorry, too.” Jughead turned his body, wrapping his arms around you awkwardly in a hug which you returned, giving him a squeeze.
You pulled away, looking down at him with a small smile. “Can you stop being mad at me now?”
Jughead returned the smile. “Only if we get something from Pops’, your treat obviously.”
You laugh to which he joins in. “Sure thing, Agatha Christie.”
He stands and offers you his hand, which you take, and allow him to pull you back up to your feet. You snort as you swing your arm over his shoulders and around his neck, causing him to grumble and shove you off of him, chuckling afterward.
He steps through the doorway of Archie’s bedroom first, you following behind. You both make your way down the stairs and towards the door, calling out to Archie and Fred if they wanted to join you both.
Whilst waiting by the front door for Archie to join you two, Fred calling that he’d be okay but thanking you anyways, Jughead looked towards you, a mischievous glint in his eye and the corner of his mouth being upturned slightly.
“You do realise you still have to break the news to dad, right?”
You paled.
“Fuck.”
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I would’ve had this out a lot sooner but I’ve been so caught up with college work and had a bad case of writers block lmao
It could’ve turned out better
Could’ve turned out worse
It’s mediocre
If you wanna be added to a taglist lemme know
Anywho, I hope you enjoy
As always, constructive criticism and requests are welcomed and greatly appreciated :D